Gujarat Election 2017 | PM's connect with people a big boost, will sweep Gujarat: Bhupendra Yadav

BJP general secretary in-charge for Gujarat, Bhupendra Yadav, is confident the party will sweep the elections. Dismissive of the Congress' social coalition with Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mevani, he tells DNA that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emotional connect with the state people will help the party. Excerpts...

How do you see the anti-incumbency factor impacting the party?

Our plank is development. All villages have electricity and metalled roads. The Sardar Sarovar Dam project has been completed by our government. Industrial and agricultural growth has led to a rise in opportunities and prosperity. Gujarat is committed to moving forward.

BJP had earlier said that Rahul Gandhi being the face of the Congress is an advantage for the BJP. What is the party's position on this now?

It will have no impact on the BJP. Let the Congress make its assessment. We are moving forward with a positive agenda and are getting the full support of people.

There is a lot of buzz regarding the Congress social coalition in Gujarat after having roped in Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mevani. Do you see it as a challenge to the BJP?

Just two years ago, Alpesh Thakore fought the district board elections on a Congress ticket and lost. So when did he leave Congress that he was now roped in? Jignesh Mevani and Hardik Patel have not done anything for the society. They are supporting the Congress and vice versa. They have no such social achievement that the people of Gujarat can repose their trust in them.

RAM versus HAJ posters have come out in Gujarat which denote (Vijay) Rupani, Amit (Shah) and (Narendra) Modi on one hand and Hardik (Patel), Alpesh (Thakore) and Jignesh (Mevani) on the other. Mevani has charged that this is intended to communally polarise the election.

I have no such information (about posters).

Shankersinh Vaghela parted ways with the Congress ahead of the polls. Will he take away some votes?

14 MLAs parted ways with the Congress — these include some who have been six or seven-time MLAs from the Congress. Big leaders from cooperatives and diaries left the Congress and it is now making claims of inducting into its fold those who have lost district board elections on Congress tickets. The Congress can answer this well.

Who is the BJP face for the Gujarat election?

The next government will be formed under Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel. They are working as a team. We want to ask the Congress who is their CM candidate in Gujarat — Shaktisinh Gohil or Bharatsinh Solanki.

Gujarat is the home state of PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah...

Gujarat has made unprecedented progress during the three Chief Ministership terms of Narendra Modiji. Anybody can come and see. The BJP in Gujarat is following in his footsteps. Certainly, the presence of the Prime Minister will give a new lease of energy, a new emotional connect, not only to BJP workers but all Gujaratis. This is a matter of pride for the party and the nation.

Do you think the polls are a semi-final before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections?

Words like semi-final and final are the media's creation. In the BJP, we work in mission mode which always continues.